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What do you think of the 25-06 for mule deer?
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Picture of Mike_Dettorre
posted
Is it marginal? Is it really an antelope rifle? What about bighorn sheep? What about mountain goats?


Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.




What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
 
Posts: 10181 | Location: Loving retirement in Boise, ID | Registered: 16 December 2003Reply With Quote
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It will kill everything you listed as well as deer very well. I wouldn't be afraid to use it on all the animals that you listed.
 
Posts: 2242 | Registered: 09 March 2006Reply With Quote
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The 120gr Nosler Partitions in a 25-06 Sendero are killing machines and will cleanly take any Mule Deer given you make a decent shot.


Free men should not be subjected to permits, paperwork and taxation in order to carry any firearm. NRA Benefactor
 
Posts: 1652 | Location: Deer Park, Texas | Registered: 08 June 2005Reply With Quote
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Picture of BigNate
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Are you seriously wondering if it's enough?

I used mine last year to take a nice buck at over 300 yards and got complete penetration. It flat out works, and works very well! Nate
 
Posts: 2376 | Location: Idaho Panhandle | Registered: 27 November 2001Reply With Quote
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Picture of Mike_Dettorre
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Yeah...I am serioulsy wondering...I think a .243 is the very minimum for deer and the 25-06 may have more powder capacity but ain't that much bigger.


Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.




What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
 
Posts: 10181 | Location: Loving retirement in Boise, ID | Registered: 16 December 2003Reply With Quote
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Picture of BigNate
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Well I know I've expressed my opinion but there will be many to follow for sure.

I personally like the 115gr and up to 120's so far. If you compare a 120gr to a .270 with 130's I think you'll find little difference, and won't notice a thing different in the field. Nate
 
Posts: 2376 | Location: Idaho Panhandle | Registered: 27 November 2001Reply With Quote
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Picture of Mike_Dettorre
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Okay...thanks...that is what I am looking for, real life experience.


Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.




What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
 
Posts: 10181 | Location: Loving retirement in Boise, ID | Registered: 16 December 2003Reply With Quote
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I have shot a few mule deer with a 6mm rem and some drop and some run a short distance. I had planned to take my 257 R this year but haven't gotten it back from my son. The 6mm is good and the 25 is just a little bigger so draw your own conclusions.

Rad


NRA Benefactor Member
 
Posts: 344 | Location: Bean Town in the worthless nut state | Registered: 23 July 2005Reply With Quote
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quote:
Originally posted by Mike_Dettorre:
Yeah...I am serioulsy wondering...I think a .243 is the very minimum for deer and the 25-06 may have more powder capacity but ain't that much bigger.


Do you think a .30-06 is big enough? Neck down to a .25 and there you go.

MG
 
Posts: 1029 | Registered: 29 January 2004Reply With Quote
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Picture of KC Carlin
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I think it is perfect for antelope.
Good choice for mulies.
As far as bighorn and goats are concerned I am sure that it would also be a good choice.
Personally I like a little bigger gun for Bighorn. I took one in 03 with a 7mm RSAUM using 160 Nosler partitions. Bighorns are bigger on average than mule deer and quite muscular. Considering how much work it can be to track a ram around the mountains I would rather be a little overgunned and drop the ram where he stands. Same for goats. I will have to wait to draw a tag to speak from experience on billies though.
KC
 
Posts: 295 | Location: Oregon | Registered: 24 June 2006Reply With Quote
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Picture of Magnum61
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I'm really suprised that .243 win fan hasn't sent a flair up over this question.

It seems there is good advice in here that another opinion wouldn't help any.

Just use a good bullet.


-Everybody has a dream hunt, mine just happens to be for a Moose.-

-The 30-06 is like a perfect steak next to a campfire, a .300 Win Mag is the same but with mushrooms and a baked potato-
 
Posts: 277 | Location: Washington State | Registered: 08 April 2005Reply With Quote
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I agree with most comments. The 25.06 Rem is a superb caliber for pronghorn and deer in open country. I'm sure it is a good sheep gun as well, but I normally go to my 300 WSM for that animal.

I load the 120 Gr. Sierra hollowpoint, boattail for pronghorn and mule deer.

For some reason it doesn't kill pronghorn within 50 yards. In '97 I was trying a "sneak" on a pronghorn buck near some lava beds and in tall grass. He surprised me by jumping up at about 50 yards. I hurried a shot and probably missed him by a foot (must have been the calibers fault). He hauled ass. I was kicking myself when I saw him loop around at about 300 yards and stopped next to a doe. I got down, kicked the bipod legs out, settled the crosshairs and touched it off. The buck collapsed without flinching. I lazered his body at 324 yards. I would describe it as a high liver shot, but the most instantaneous kill I think I've ever made, except maybe for one other I'll describe.

My other favorite 25.06 shot was my first kill with it. I was in a deer stand in Central Texas, but you might just as well call it simply a "stand". There were no deer.

By mid-morning I had seen nothing. Then an armadillo walked out at about 150 yards. I hunkered down over the scope and pulled the trigger. Dirt flew and the armadillo didn't. He just stood there, not taking a step. I looked at him through the scope, and he looked funny. I couldn't see his head. I climbed down and walked over to him.

It was the strangest sight. His head had been vaporized. No shread of skin, no neck. He looked like a pineapple with legs. The wild part was that he was still on his feet, with his body off the ground like he was ready to walk away as soon as the message came from his brain.

I touched him with the tip of the barrel and he "relaxed" to the ground. I think the bullet was a reloaded Sierra 95 gr. soft-point if I remember correctly.

The 25.06 Rem is one of my favorites.
 
Posts: 13922 | Location: Texas | Registered: 10 May 2002Reply With Quote
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Picture of prof242
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I've got standards and magnums, enough to fill my gunsafe. One of my favorite guns though is a Rem 700 (yeah, pushfeed), left hand, that was rebarreled into .25-06. Planned it to primarily be my antelope rifle, but it has become my almost-standard mule deer rifle too. I always have a spare along on my hunts. That spare is the .25-06 and is available to all my hunting partners. Its become the only spare we bring along now and noone who has used it has been disappointed (except for the bolt being on the "correct" side).


.395 Family Member
DRSS, po' boy member
Political correctness is nothing but liberal enforced censorship
 
Posts: 3490 | Location: Colorado Springs, CO | Registered: 04 April 2003Reply With Quote
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If you have to actualy ask a question like that then maybe you'd be better suited to a sport like tennis or lawn bowling. Come on now.
 
Posts: 304 | Location: Prince George BC | Registered: 12 February 2005Reply With Quote
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I think the 25/06 is a fine imitation of the 260 Remington, housed in a long action!
 
Posts: 16144 | Location: Southern Oregon USA | Registered: 04 January 2005Reply With Quote
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Picture of Mike_Dettorre
posted Hide Post
schmaus,

nah...I won't say it...


Mike

Legistine actu quod scripsi?

Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.




What I have learned on AR, since 2001:
1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken.
2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps.
3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges.
4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down.
5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine.
6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle.
7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions.
8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA.
9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not.
10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact.
11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores.
12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence.
13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances.
 
Posts: 10181 | Location: Loving retirement in Boise, ID | Registered: 16 December 2003Reply With Quote
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Picture of fredj338
posted Hide Post
I agree w/ you Mike, for me deer rifles start at the .257Rob & go up. I haven't used one, but I am liking my .260ai more & more. A bit light for RM goat, they can be tough, but as always, good heavy bullets in the right spot will work.


LIFE IS NOT A SPECTATOR'S SPORT!
 
Posts: 7752 | Location: kalif.,usa | Registered: 08 March 2001Reply With Quote
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